Jerold G. Klevit, 77, administrative law judge

Jerold G. Klevit, 77, an administrative law judge who handled workers compensation cases for 30 years for the state of Pennsylvania, died Friday, April 17, of kidney failure at Abington Hospital. He lived at Rydal Park in Jenkintown.

Born in Washington, Mr. Klevit moved when he was 8 to West Oak Lane. He graduated from Central High School, then Lehigh University in 1959, and the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1962.

After serving as a law clerk for a federal judge in Wilmington, Mr. Klevit joined the Philadelphia firm Lipschultz & Chalfin in 1963.

When he was 28, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. By his early 30s, he had lost vision in both eyes, said his sister, Linda Hahn.

But that didn't stop him. "He knew he was ill. He had lost his sight in one eye," his sister recalled. "He decided to work for a large corporation, and was hired by General Electric in Valley Forge to do aerospace law. Shortly thereafter, he couldn't see out of the other eye."

In 1968, Mr. Klevit joined the Defender Association of Philadelphia as an attorney in the juvenile division.

"He was totally blind, but he worked out a system," Hahn said. "He defended juveniles who didn't have their own attorneys."

Mr. Klevit was appointed by Gov. Milton Shapp as an administrative law judge in the commonwealth's Workers Compensation Division in the early 1970s. He traveled by SEPTA from his home in Jenkintown to the State Office Building at Broad and Spring Garden Streets. He retired in 2002.

"He was incredibly heroic and courageous and upbeat all the time," his sister said. "There was never a minute of self-pity or despair."

Divorced at the time, Mr. Klevit in 1976 married Florence Rodman, who worked as a legal assistant to a patent lawyer. She later joined her husband as his assistant in the Workers Compensation Division. Mrs. Klevit died Feb. 28.

"At the eulogy that I wrote for her, I said she managed him at home and in the office," Hahn said.

In his motorized chair, Mr. Klevit participated in a book club and discussion groups at his synagogue, Congregation Adath Jeshurun in Elkins Park.

"He would get the book from the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, and he would often lead the discussion and sometimes pick the book," Hahn said.

In addition to his sister, Mr. Klevit is survived by a son, Nathan; two grandchildren; and his first wife, Gail Clark.

The funeral will be at noon Monday, April 20, at Joseph Levine & Sons Memorial Chapel in Trevose. Burial will be in Adath Jeshurun Cemetery in Frankford.

Shiva will be observed at Mr. Klevit's residence after services Monday and from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, and from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at his sister's home in Center City.

Donations may be made in Mr. Klevit's memory to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

215-854-2831